Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, sent a letter November 10, 2009 to Chinese priests and Bishops on the occasion of the Year for Priests. In it, he called for Catholic dialogue and reconciliation with the Communist Chinese government and their Chinese 'Catholic' Church (Zenit, No. 17, 2009).

Bertone: Go and reconcile with the Reds

He begins his letter with "an invitation to hope."

The Cardinal recalled how the Holy Father's 2007 letter (to China’s Catholics) gives guidelines for "reconciliation within the Catholic community and a respectful and constructive dialogue with the civil authorities without renouncing the principles of the Catholic Faith.” In plain words, he is asking for constructive dialogue between the faithful of the Underground Catholic Church and the Chinese Communists and its well-heeled 'Catholic' Patriotic Church.

The deceitful tricks of Communism

How does one have a respectful dialogue with the errors intrinsic in Communism without renouncing the principles of the Catholic Faith? Consider the words of Pope Pius XI on the purposeful deceptions of Communism:

“In the beginning Communism showed itself for what it was in all its perversity; but very soon it realized that it was thus alienating the people. It has therefore changed its tactics, and strives to entice the multitudes by trickery of various forms, hiding its real designs behind ideas that in themselves are good and attractive.

“Thus, aware of the universal desire for peace, the leaders of Communism pretend to be the most zealous promoters and propagandists in the movement for world amity. Yet at the same time they stir up a class-warfare which causes rivers of blood to flow, and, realizing that their system offers no internal guarantee of peace, they have recourse to unlimited armaments. Under various names which do not suggest Communism, they establish organizations and periodicals with the sole purpose of carrying their ideas into quarters otherwise inaccessible. They try perfidiously to worm their way even into professedly Catholic and religious organizations.

“Again, without receding an inch from their subversive principles, they invite Catholics to collaborate with them in the realm of so-called humanitarianism and charity; and at times even make proposals that are in perfect harmony with the Christian spirit and the doctrine of the Church.

“Elsewhere they carry their hypocrisy so far as to encourage the belief that Communism, in countries where faith and culture are more strongly entrenched, will assume another and much milder form.

“It will not interfere with the practice of religion. It will respect liberty of conscience. There are some even who refer to certain changes recently introduced into soviet legislation as a proof that Communism is about to abandon its program of war against God.

“See to it, Venerable Brethren, that the faithful do not allow themselves to be deceived! Communism is intrinsically wrong, and no one who would save Christian Civilization may collaborate with it in any undertaking whatsoever. Those who permit themselves to be deceived into lending their aid towards the triumph of Communism in their own country will be the first to fall victims of their error” (Divini Redemptoris, March 19, 1937).

Strict surveillance continues

With the Vatican encouraging the merger of the Catholic Church into the Communist controlled Catholic Patriotic Association, one might ask what kind of advantage the Catholic Church will receive from the Communists. It would seem that there is none.

Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, recently reported that the funeral of an underground Chinese Bishop on September 1, 2010, was “obliged to be held in a private manner and under strict surveillance of security forces” ("Bishop’s death mourned," Sept. 6, 2010).

Funeral of underground Bishop Yang Shudao, always under house arrest or in prison

John Yang Shudao, the retired Archbishop of the city of Fuzhou, was ordained a priest in 1947 and a Bishop in 1987. “He almost always lived under house arrest or under strict control,” Fides noted. “Faithful across the world unite themselves to their brethren in Fuzhou to pay tribute to the Archbishop who, in heroic witness to the Gospel and out of fidelity to his faith, spent a third of his life in prison.”

The Cardinal Kung Foundation reports that with the underground Catholic Church, the government’s policy continues to be “business as usual” - persecution. Underground priests who refuse to be re-educated and integrated into the Patriotic Association are arrested and detained. (July 2010 newsletter).

As Pius XI wisely warned, the Communists invite Catholics to collaborate with them, but without receding “from their subversive principles.” It is sad to see the Vatican leading the underground faithful in the opposite direction advised by Pius XI and encouraging them to collaborate with the Red Chinese government…